Author Archives: Patrick Willcocks
What does the New Politics mean for the choice of a new Birmingham City Council Leader
Many of you might have missed it but there are a series of events going on around the country celebrating and debating local democracy. In Birmingham we have three fascinating events – with the highlight for me today with Simon Parker, Director of the New Local Government Network talking about his new book ‘Taking Power Back. I […]
The Importance of Local Economic Leadership
I attended an event a few weeks ago in Manchester hosted by the Council and the OECD LEED programme on the importance of local economic leadership in promoting sustainable inclusive growth. This was the LEEDs annual meeting and also highlighted a recent publication looking into such matters. I feel that the publication is worthy of […]
Innovation Birmingham – An increasingly important asset for Birmingham’s Digital Sector
Innovation Birmingham – An increasingly important asset for Birmingham’s Digital Sector Birmingham launched its Smart City Road Map in 2014 and a key component in delivering its vision around growing the digital economy, is Innovation Birmingham. I talked to the CEO David Hardman recently to find out more. Innovation Birmingham is located in the emerging […]
What is Driving this Devolution Push
This is started out as a short post to get behind what is driving devolution to cities in England. It got a little too long. Apologies. Well what is this all about; why is it happening and what can we expect from it. There is much talk about how centralised the UK’s decision making is […]
Is Birmingham a Digital Hotspot?
Is Birmingham a Digital Hotspot? Birmingham has designated itself as a Smart City and at the core of any smart city is its strength in the Digital economy. This post explores how the city compares to elsewhere in the UK and what is being done to strengthen this increasingly important economic sector/ engine for growth. […]
Progress on Birmingham’s Green Commission Vision
Birmingham’s Green Commission launched its Carbon Road Map in November 2013 and prior to that its vision in March 2013. This post highlights a report and presentation that went to the Connectivity and Sustainability Overview and Scrutiny Commission in March 2015 about the progress so far and the priorities for 2015. The covering report, which is brief, can […]
What is happening with Greater Birmingham’s Economy
The recent publicity around the growth of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull – being the LEP with the highest GVA growth almost got me to write a post about the underlying reasons for its growth – (it is in draft but will it surface?) but I was diverted when I received an email from the […]
HSBC moves its UK headquarters to Birmingham; a well needed boost for the City’s Financial Sector
The news today that HSBC is moving its UK headquarters to the City is a much needed boost. The decision to take a lease on the Arena Central development with the potential of bringing 1000 jobs to the city is important for despite much of the hype about the sector in the city is has […]
Extra £22m Cycling Monies in Birmingham – What will it be buying
This is a straight lift from the Birmingham Newsroom site – but I think it is worth sharing as it is a major slice of monies being put to changing Birmingham’s mobility habits. Main Corridors (£15m) – About half of the funding would cover high-quality ‘flagship’ routes on five main corridors, with a high degree […]
The Development of Policies Towards Cities in England in the last 10 years – (or so)
I am writing this as I have been asked to help organise a visit of Dutch policy makers who are keen to learn from our experience of City policy in England and whilst I have lived through it and had an input into some of it – I couldn’t find a succinct summary of this […]
UrbanPivot 